Kobalt tools at Lowes, Clearance Options

[gandalf_025]

My local Lowe’s is clearancing out most of if not all of their Kobalt tools.
Seems like Lowe’s has made a deal with Stanley Tools, who bought
the Craftsman tool line from Sears.
I walked in the other day and bought this kit for 30.00 and
it will fit nicely in the trunk... Only thing is it only goes to 17mm
on the wrenches....
Last price marked on this kit was 122.00, so 30 bucks isn’t a
bad deal..
No idea how fast they will sell out, but I’d bet every Lowe’s is
doing the same thing..

[Grelber]

Just got back from vacation and saw this thread. I retired 3 years ago, and didn't want to sit at home, so I went to work at Lowes. I'm the Tools/Hardware Department Manager, so this thread hits home.

So:

* Lowes is cutting about 90% of the Kobalt products for Craftsman. It's a rolling debut, so not all stores will have everything on clearance at the same time.
* We dropped the sponsorship of Jimmy Johnson for all but a couple of races, de-emphasizing the Kobalt brand ( it was costing nearly 25 million a year for this.)
* A little known fact is that Lowes will deal on clearance products, so don't be shy about offering a lower price ( if it's clearance ). They may say no, but in my store I'll deal just to clear the stuff out.
* As part of the deal, Stanley agreed to bring most of the production back to the US. They will mostly be made in the Stanley factories.
* A lot of the Craftsman power tools are the Dewalt line, painted red.
* Walmart wanted the line, but Stanley wanted a more tool-centric retailer, hence Lowes.
* Lastly, did you know that Stanley, Black and Decker, Porter Cable, Dewalt and Craftsman are all the same company ( same ownership)??